Part of the Global Plot to Expose Moonbats, conspiracy nuts, and anti-Semites, especially the Jewish anti-Semitic variety.
The leftwing Neo-Nazi web magazine Counterpunch has described Plaut thus: "One of the most pernicious writers is Steven Plaut, a man who could be thought of as Israel's Daniel Pipes."

Monday, November 13, 2006

In-Classroom anti-Israel Political Indoctrination at Ben Gurion University

In-Classroom One-Sided Political Indoctrination at Ben Gurion University

At Ben Gurion University, the Department of Politics and Government offersa course entitled "Critical Aspects of the Occupation," taught by NeveGordon. The syllabus (Hebrew only) can be viewed on the departmental website: http://w3.bgu.ac.il/politics/new_pages/index.htm

The course is a perfect illustration of one-sided in-classroom anti-Israelpolitical indoctrination. Taught be one of Israel's worst anti-Israelextremists, the course is little more than a semesterlong exercise in NorthKorean-style re-education of students who may not be sufficientlyanti-Israel upon registration. To understand the title of the course, youneed to bear in mind that in leftist NewSpeak "critical" meansMarxist. Critical analyses of literature are mind-numbing tracts thatexplain literary works as exercises in class struggle. Critical legalstudies are where criminality is celebrated as a moral revolt against theruling class. You get the picture.

The reading list for the Gordon propaganda course consists almost entirelyof anti-Israel or pro-Marxist diatribes. There are of course Gordon's ownscreeds about how Israel is a terrorist state and engages intorture. There is Gordon's buddy Lisa Hajjar, from the University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara, a sociologist claiming to understand legalinstitutions who has made a career out of bashing Israel (seehttp://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18236 ).

There are also long-winded fatuities written by the late Marxist"philosopher" Michel Foucault. There are oodles of Arab writers who do notthink Israel has the right to protect itself. There are ultra-haters ofIsrael like Sara Roy or Azmi Bishara (the Arab Knesset Member who has beenrunning to Syria to call for Israel's annihilation). There is far-leftistIsraeli lawyer (Avigdor Feldman), alongside several articles and reports bythe anti-Israel NGO "Betselem" (see report on the group in NGO-Monitor athttp://ngo-monitor.org/archives/infofile.htm ). Israel-hating film-makerJoan Mandell offers her expert scholarly opinions to Gordon's students inthe course, as does Haaretz extremist columnist Akiva Eldar. There ispolitical wisdom from the anti-Israel architectural display of twoanti-Zionist architects(http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/s-titles/segal_weizman_occupation.shtml). And on and on it goes.

The closest thing the reading list for the course ever gets to lettingstudents hear the point of view of a Zionist writer is with a 25-year oldpiece by Menachem Milson, and some chapters from a book by Labor Partyhistorian Shabtai Shevet.

There is not a single article there about Palestinian terrorism or aboutIsrael's rights to defend itself. You will never learn that Israel's"occupation" of "Palestinian lands" was caused by Arab aggression andviolence and not the other way around. You will never hear that the maincause of escalated Palestinian terrorism in the past decade or so was notoccupation at all but rather the REMOVAL of occupation.

Concerned about the merciless brainwashing of hapless students at BenGurion University? Why not drop a note to the President of BGU, Prof.Rivka Carmi, at Ben Gurion University, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105Israel (e-mail: rcarmi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il.) and tell her what you think.